The Post’s Joseph Staszewski brings you around the world of professional wrestling every Tuesday in his weekly column, the Post Match Angle.
WWE is giving us the WrestleMania 40 main event we all want and deserve, whether it was the plan all along or a fan-influenced audible.
So what now?
Outside of Cody Rhodes ultimately finishing his story by defeating Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal championship, how does this all play out so WWE can play “the long game,” as Dwyane “The Rock” Johnson has mentioned?
Despite Rhodes not going into detail — other than crediting the fan support — for his change of heart, so much is still up in the air. We here at the Post Match Angle are going to take our best swing at some booking ideas for the main events of WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia on April 6-7 to make Triple H’s and Brian Gewirtz’s life a little easier:
The rumors out there are the Night 1 main event will be a tag match featuring The Rock and Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins. That was only strengthened by WWE’s WrestleMania teaser video and Rollins’ incredible promo, which may be the best of his career on Raw, saying he will fight The Bloodline by Rhodes’ side.
I think a tag match on Night 1 is the best course of action, and maybe it comes with a stipulation that it affects the Night 2 main event, either as a triple-threat or featuring a guest referee.
The Rock and Reigns need to win — with the WWE legend pinning an injured Rollins. The victory should come with help from a debuting Jacob Fatu, the former MLW World Heavyweight champion, and possibly Lance Anoa’i.
Both are free agents, and they would let The Rock start to further build up The Bloodline with his people, making the group look even more unbeatable. Fatu easily can be his enforcer. They leave Rhodes and Rollins severely beaten, making fans wonder how either one can win on Night 2.
Jey and Jimmy Uso — who will cost his twin the Intercontinental championship against Gunther — will have their WrestleMania match on Night 1, and the two brothers will hug it out after to be back in each other’s good graces.
Rollins should face Drew McIntyre for the World Heavyweight championship to open Night 2. What you do depends on CM Punk’s and Rollins’ health. If Punk will be ready to return soon and Rollins won’t need an absence, then “The Best in the World” should cost McIntyre the match, seeing how the Scottish Warrior has been leaning heavily into being the one to injure him, hilarious T-shirt and all.
It leaves CM Punk vs. Rollins and CM Punk vs. McIntyre on the table or a triple-threat down the road.
If Punk isn’t coming back soon, McIntyre should beat Rollins and fend off a Damian Priest cash-in to be the new big bad at the top of the division.
Now to Rhodes.
Triple H inserted himself into the feud on SmackDown and put himself at odds with the power-grabbing Rock. He has a history with Rhodes, too, as “The American Nightmare” broke a HHH-like throne with a sledgehammer at AEW’s first pay-per-view. Who better to be the special guest ref to “call it down the middle” and ensure no interference? Hopefully, Triple H’s heart condition allows it. If not, do you put Rock in that role to further stack the deck against Rhodes?
Remember that it was Solo Sikoa’s Samoan Spike that cost Rhodes at WrestleMania 39. So there needs to be a callback. There are a few options here. Jey Uso, Rhodes’ former tag team partner, or Sami Zayn could be the one to step in and stop it — righting some of his wrongs during their time with The Bloodline and putting Jey in the new Bloodline’s sight, with Jimmy and Solo torn about whom to side with.
The more powerful way would be for Rock to hold Sikoa and The Bloodline back in some way as a signal of his power to leave Reigns to be defeated by Rhodes, hurting the champion’s standing as the head of the family.
The move shows Reigns he can’t win without help as Rock starts taking control of the family again. It could be the spark WWE needs to turn Reigns babyface against an oppressive Rock and start a real civil war within the family so they can have their long-awaited match later this year or at WrestleMania 41.
By doing this, you give Rhodes the best possible title win that ties up the story arcs, sets Rock and Reigns on a collision course and gives The Bloodline story a fresh third act.
Golden Years
Sting’s stretch run toward his final match at Revolution is off to a fabulous start with his 25th championship win. He and Darby Allin defeated Ricky Starks and Big Bill for the AEW tag team titles last Wednesday, and he then got to share the moment with his sons Garrett Lee and Steven Jr. in an emotional moment.
The dastardly Young Bucks attacking all of them to spoil it was the best thing Matthew and Nicholas have done since turning heel. They still feel more on the annoying side than two people the fans should really hate. But doing their Rampage promo with the white jackets covered in Sting’s and Allin’s blood was a nice touch.
The 10 Count
Yes, Dakota Kai appeared to help Bayley on SmackDown, but it was done in a way that left some doubt. Damage CTRL needs a new leader, so I’d fully expect her to cost Bayley the WWE Women’s championship at WrestleMania. It will extend Bayley’s championship case and force her to form a new alliance with people she may have wronged. Maybe Bianca Belair, Naomi and Shotzi for now.
Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate becoming the No. 1 contenders for the WWE Undisputed tag team championships at Elimination Chamber makes me think DIY vs. Finn Balor and Damian Priest will be the WrestleMania match. The WWE men’s tag team division is so refreshingly deep and so diverse in styles and gimmicks right now.
“Hangman” Adam Page — who is looking a bit like Magnum T.A. these days — not wanting to go to OT with Swerve Strickland to keep his No. 1 spot in the world title rankings was an effective way to complete the needed double turn for both after another stellar match. Page as a heel will feel fresh. My early guess is Samoa Joe pins Page in the triple-threat match at Revolution to prolong Strickland’s world title chase for a one-one-one clash.
Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams’ story isn’t at the Johnny Gargano-Tommaso Ciampa level yet, but their talent and fans’ emotional investment in both men could get it there.
Mercedes Mone’s arrival in AEW is getting the deserved CM Punk treatment in her hometown of Bo$$ton on March 13 at TD Garden. She is the biggest former WWE star to sign with AEW since Bryan Danielson (sorry, Adam Copeland).
The luchadors from CMLL are fantastic talents in the ring, but it felt hard to get invested in the short storyline they had with the heel Blackpool Combat Club. I’m hoping this will be paid off in Mexico at some point, but it just didn’t hit for me.
I thought Andrade’s reintroduction vignette was one of the better promos and character-building elements he’s had in WWE.
It will take time to see if the abrupt firing of TNA president Scott D’Amore to take the company in a different direction was the right one for Anthem Sports. But it could be an uphill battle, seeing how beloved D’Amore is in that locker room. He shouldn’t be out of work long. He is a tremendous TV frontman.
Thoughts go out to Maryse, Miz and their family after the former Divas champion revealed she had 11 serious borderline ovarian tumors removed and is scheduled for a total hysterectomy. Luckily they were caught because her survival chances would have been low had the tumors become cancerous.
Congratulations to Daria Berenato (Sonya Deville) and Toni Cassano on their wedding in New Jersey over the weekend.
Social Media Post Of The Week
Wrestler of the Week
The Rock, WWE
Dwayne Johnson is one of the world’s most beloved people, but The Rock showed his heel game is still very strong as he beautifully leaned into his WrestleMania heat. The Great One whipped fans into a fever pitch with his “Cody Crybabies” line, and his on-stage slap of Rhodes and post-press conference confrontation with Triple H sent this story on its way with a bang.
Match to Watch
Adam Copeland vs. Daniel Garcia, TNT Championship eliminator on AEW Dynamite. (8 p.m., TBS)
Though it’s likely Copeland is going to win to go on and try to reclaim his title from rival Christian Cage at Revolution, Garcia has some real momentum and fan support coming in. His dance and his redemption story are getting over. With recent wins over Buddy Matthews, Brody King, Shane Taylor and a hard-fought loss to Swerve Strickland, this is the perfect time to push him into the title picture. Garcia is one of the young stars AEW is grooming, and this is another step in the process. He’s also one of the best wrestlers Copeland has faced since joining AEW.
